Our 8-day naturalist itinerary aboard M/Y Aqua is the opportunity of a lifetime! Visiting incredible sites such as Dragon Hill, Sullivan Bay, magical Isabela island, and more, your stay in the Galapagos Island will be more than complete. Share our love for all the incredible wildlife inhabiting the islands with us!

AM - Baltra Airport
Upon arrival at Seymour Ecological Airport, a check-up is
carried out rst, to ensure that no foreign plant or animal
species are introduced into the islands. Furthermore, your
TCC (Transit Control Card) is stamped; this must be kept
safe during your trip, as it has to be presented again on your
return ight. In addition, entrance to the Galapagos National
Park is due for entry (US $100), if this has not yet been paid.
Your guide will meet you at the airport, assist you with the
luggage, and accompany you on the short bus ride to the
harbour of Puerto Ayora. Here you will climb aboard the
M/Y Aqua! After greeting the crew and the captain, your
cabins will be assigned to you and then you will enjoy your
rst lunch on-board.
PM - North Seymour
This islet is one of most visited sites, and it is teeming with
birdlife. An easy circular path takes you through the
archipelago’s most extensive colonies of blue-footed
boobies and frigate birds. At the beginning of the breeding
season, adult frigate bird-males blow up their vivid red
pouches to impressive football-sized balloons. This is one of
the few spots where you can compare the magnicent and
the great frigate bird breeding next to each other

AM – South Plazas
South Plaza is located at the east of Santa Cruz Island, and
forms part of two islands known as Islas Plazas. Despite its
small size, some of the most interesting and outstanding
species of the Galapagos are found here. The Plazas land
iguanas are smaller than their relatives found on other
islands. There are several hybrid iguanas, a result of crossing
a male marine iguana and a female land iguana; they are
unique, recognisable at rst glance by their black/grey color,
with a land iguana's crest, but face and tail of the marine
iguana. The large population of iguanas is due to the
presence of tuna, their favourite food. Swallow-tailed gulls
nesting in the rugged cliffs are seen along with other
seabirds such as Audubon shearwaters, red-billed
tropicbirds, frigate birds and brown pelicans.
PM – Santa Fe
Located in the south-eastern part of the Galapagos, this
island was formed from an uplift rather than being of
volcanic origin, which is why it is mostly at. There are
some theories which claim that this could be the oldest
island in the Archipelago. Santa Fe is home to a number
of endemic species like the Galapagos Hawk, Galapagos
snake, Galapagos mockingbird, rice rats and one of the
two species of lands iguanas of the islands.
After disembarking into the beautiful and clear waters
you will be in contact with one of the many sea lion
colonies. Along the trail, many salt bushes can be seen as well as the
giant prickly pear cactus - gigantism is a characteristic of
oceanic islands. There are many possibilities to snorkel with
playful sea lions and tropical sh.

AM – CC Fausto Llerena
After discovering and learning about the difference of Espanola Island tortoises with those from other islands, you will
have the opportunity to take amazing photographs of the
tortoises at the breeding center! The tour starts at the
information booth of the GNP. The trail continues to the
Van Straelen interpretation Center, the breeding center and
from there will be a path- this is where you can see the
tortoises of Española Island, ending in the tortoise exhibit
corral. Tortoises of this corral are accustomed to humans; it
is an excellent spot to be photographed with them!
PM – Cormorant Point
The peninsula of Cormorant Point forms the extreme
north cape of Floreana, which formed from smaller volcanic
cones, covered by tropical dry forest (palo santo). At the
landing beach, you will be welcomed by a small Galapagos
sea lion colony. The green sand on this beach contains a high
percentage of glassy olivine crystals which have been blown
out by the surrounding tuff cones. The ‘our sand’ beach on
the southern side of the peninsula is made up of even ner
white coral sand which feels very smooth on the feet.
Parrotsh have pulverised it, grinding the calcareous
skeletons of living coral. You can spot schools of stingrays
who love the sandy bottom to hide themselves. During the
rst months of the year, Pacic green turtles come ashore to
bury their eggs.

AM – Dragon Hill
Dragon Hill boasts two key-species which are very likely to
be seen during every visit to the Galapagos, though not too
commonly distributed throughout the islands: Galapagos
land iguanas and American amingos. You will climb a hill
with giant opuntia cacti where these ‘dragons’ feed and
breed. Although they are quite shy and elusive, you stand a
fair chance of seeing the success of this project with your
own eyes. The short walk crosses the coastal vegetation zone, as well
as the somewhat higher arid zone with
vulnerable tropical dry forest. In the warm and wet season
in the rst half of the year everything turns green.
Evergreen giant prickly pear cacti with internal reservoirs
used a different survival tactic in this dry climate to the leaf
dropping palo santo trees; in the end both were successful.
Moreover, this is a very photogenic spot as well, with
breathtaking panoramas over the bay and towards an
intriguing steep volcanic spout of red lava that overlooks the
area. Dragon Hill has become popular because of its saline
lagoons behind the beach; these contain algae and shrimp
and attract seasonally foraging American amingos. Dragon
Hill is the best location on Santa Cruz to observe them.
PM – Chinese Hat Islet (Santiago)
Chinese Hat is a 52m/170ft high volcanic cone, forming
another islet right off the rocky coast of Santiago, where a
small colony of Galapagos penguins have settled.
Approaching Chinese Hat from the north, you will
understand the meaning of the name. This is an excellent
place to learn more about volcanoes, lava bombs and lava
tunnels.
You will arrive just in time to witness how this barren islet is
colonised by pioneer species that have begun to sprout!
Beautiful beaches of white coral sand and holes in the
eroding lava elds are lled up with lava sand, which enables
rooting. Galapagos sea lions and countless marine iguanas
contribute to fertilisation, and altogether create many f
avourable options for newcomers, such as saltbush and the
sesuvium carpet.

AM - Cowley Islet (Isabela)
This islet, located coast of Isabela, is a popular diving site due
to the many incredible species located in the waters here.
You will encounter a range of shark species, Galapagos sea
lions, stingrays, green sea turtles, cormorants, penguins,
manta rays, and more! And if you’re lucky, you can encounter
sea horses!
PM - Albany Islet (Santiago)
Albany Islet is an amazing sloping rock located off the
Northwest Point of Santiago. This is a great site to observe
tiger nudibranchs, sea turtles, Galapagos black coral, barnacles, Galapagos sharks and golden eagle rays.

AM - Egas Port
We will have a “wet-landing” and take an easy walk along
trails and on the beautiful shoreline of the black-sand beach,
where you can see birds, sea lions, Sally Lightfoot Crabs,
marine iguanas and Galapagos Fur Seal. During the walk you
will be able to see some of Darwin’s nches, yellow warblers
and many other beautiful and unique animals!
PM - Sullivan Bay
The arrival in Sullivan Bay is like a moon landing. The desolate, sprawling elds seem to be mostly lifeless, but this island,
which is particularly popular among photographers, still
offers a lot to see. There is even some life! Green sea turtles
burrow in the small white sand beach, where you can also
nd crabs, blue herons and oystercatchers.

AM - Rábida Island
After a ‘wet landing’ on the remarkable red beach of Rabida,
there are two short guided hikes. Oxidised iron particles
give the rocks and sand their rusty colour. The beach wall
holds a shallow green-fringed lagoon; this oasis is the most
fertile place on the otherwise arid islet, which is overgrown
with leaf-dropping palo santo trees. The salty pool attracts
all kind of aquatic birds, like pintails and sometimes American amingos. Between the evergreen foliage of the
surrounding mangrove bushes many species of songbirds
hide and breed. One of the most outstanding attractions is
the major breeding colony of brown pelicans, the only ones
in the world that plunge-dive. PM - Bartolome Island
The beautiful volcano islet of Bartolomé is among the youngest of the islands, and on a geological scale was just recently
born out of re. Although at rst sight lifeless, Bartolomé
offers some of the wildest landscapes and best panoramas
of the entire archipelago. To enjoy the postcard view of the
idyllic ‘Pinnacle Bay’ you have to climb the stairs to the
viewpoint on top of the island (114m/375ft). Enter a dramatic world of threatening (though extinguished) nearby
spatter cones, craters, and lightweight lava droplets that
have been spewed out by ery fountains. The Summit Trail is
also ideal for witnessing how scanty pioneer vegetation such
as lava cactus struggles to take root in the bare virgin lava
elds.

AM - Mosquera
Though close neighbours, Mosquera and North Seymour
offer a very different experience; diverging habitats attract
different residents. While North Seymour contains large
breeding colonies of boobies and frigate birds, Mosquera
stands out as one of the largest concentrations of Galapagos sea lions in the entire archipelago. It’s also one of the
few spots inside the National Park where you can stroll
around freely, without being restricted to a trail.
Galapagos sea lions are real beach lovers and Mosquera
offers beautiful white coral sand beaches contrasting with
the azure coloured water. This islet is just a few metres
higher than a sandbank and doesn’t complicate their landing,
and they can roll relaxed in the surf. For shing they just
have to enter the Itabaca Channel, which is a sort of natural
place in which lots of marine life and schools of sh are
concentrated.
Transfer out to Baltra Airport (GPS)
It’s time to say goodbye to Galapagos! It’s been a pleasure
accompanying you on this unique trip and hope to see you
again very soon!
Assisted by the naturalist guide and some crew members,
the dinghy will bring you and your luggage to the Seymour
Ecological Airport, where we will take the shuttle back to
the airport.
In case you have booked your trip for a longer stay with us,
we would be welcoming any potential new fellow passengers to the yacht, and continue our trip to the next visiting
site!

Additional charges:

Aqua Galapagos

Vessel Type: Motor Yacht

Passenger Capacity: 16

Lenght: 26 m

Built: 1998 (Remodeled in 2019)

The Galapagos Aqua is the ideal boat for divers and adventure lovers of all ages! It offers a unique combination of both liveaboard diving safaris, including the best diving sites of the archipelago, as well as naturalist cruises for seeing what makes the islands themselves so special, something that should not be missed when visiting the Galapagos Islands.

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